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This subtilase cytotoxin consists of a single enzymatic active A-

This subtilase cytotoxin consists of a single enzymatic active A-subunit (SubA) and five receptor binding B-subunits (SubB). SubA comprises 347 amino acids and contains the catalytic triad Asp-52, ARN-509 His-89, and Ser-272 typical of subtilase family serine proteases [8]. The SubB protein is 141 amino acids in length and responsible for the receptor mediated cellular uptake. SubA is a serine protease cleaving the chaperone GRP78/BiP in the endoplasmatic reticulum (ER) [10]. This leads to an unfolded protein

response and ER stress-induced apoptosis [11]. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that SubAB confers HUS-like symptoms in mice [8, 12]. SubB has a high binding specificity for α2-3-linked N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc), and

a lower binding specificity to α2-3-linked N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) [13]. Human cells are not able to synthesize Neu5Gc but can generate Foretinib supplier high affinity receptors when incubated with this molecule [14]. It has been hypothesized that ingestion of Neu5Gc rich diet will confer susceptibility to the SubAB toxin [13]. Besides the plasmid-located subAB (subAB 1 ) operon, a chromosomal variant was described in 2010 by Tozzoli et al. [15]. This variant (subAB 2 ) showed only 90.0% sequence identity to the plasmid-located one but was also able to cause check details cytotoxic effects on vero cells [15]. The chromosomal subAB 2 variant has been recently shown to be harbored on a genomic island. This 8058 bp Subtilase-Encoding PAI (SE-PAI), is positioned between the tRNA gene pheV and the yjhs gene, putatively encoding an 9-O-Acetyl N-acetylneuraminic acid esterase in E. coli strain ED32. The SE-PAI contains an integrase gene, a shiA gene (homologous to the shiA gene of the Shigella flexneri

pathogenicity island SHI-2), a sulphatase, the toxigenic invasion locus A (tia) and the subAB operon [16, 17]. Several authors described the presence of subAB mainly in eae-negative STEC strains second of non-O157 serogroups such as O77, O79, O105 [7], serotype O128:H2 from sheep [18], and a number of other STEC from various origins [16, 19, 20]. But human cases of infection have also been described [15, 16, 21, 22]. The aim of the current study was to characterize the subAB genes and their genetic surrounding in a collection of 18 subAB-positive food-borne STEC strains in order to get a more detailed understanding of gene variability, genetic structure, and location. Methods Bacterial strains and culture conditions The 18 subAB positive STEC strains were isolated between 2008 and 2009 from different food sources in Germany (Table 1). STEC strains were routinely cultured in LB-broth (1% Bacto trypton, 0.5% yeast extract, 1% NaCl, pH 7.4) at 37°C. For solid media, 1.5% Bacto agar was added.